FEARS & WEAKNESSES

God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of sound mind - (2 Tim 1:7)
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me - (2 Cor 12:9)

Fears

Desire to protect myself
Money or the lack of it
Family
Job Security

The underlying problem revealed:

Lack of trust in God
Lack of faith

To have the mind of Christ is to trust in the Father's provision. Only He can protect us and our familie. Fears indicate a misunderstanding of God's purposes which are beyong our understanding. Jesus has allowed Lazarus to die from his sickness rather than heal him. But Jesus has a greater purpose in mind that would bring glory to God when He raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-45).

Paul was ready for life and death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain - (Phil 1L21). Whatever God permitted was OK> Paul faced both life and death without fear because he has trust and confidence in God.

God's desire is to change you from being one who is self-protective to one who finds security in Christ.

Prepare a list of you fears. Evaluate your fears, ask God to reveal His ways, ask Him to begin moving you towards the security in Christ.

Weaknesses

We often excuse our weaknesses by saying we were born that way. Three times Paul asked the Lord to remove his "thorn in the flesh" or a weakness. Gor's response was that "My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

God's desire is to move your weaknesses from being tools of Satan to being tools of God.

Prepare a list of your weaknesses. Ask God to help you identify the ones which are being used against you as tools of Satan. Write an S beside the ones and ask God to transform these weaknesses into tools that bring Him glory.

Bottle Tree Adventure

On most of the Wednesday & Sunday Nights, a group of cyclists from Sembawang Care group would gather opposite Sembawang MRT Station at about 9.15 pm to cycle to Bottle Tree. This has become a form of regular exercise for the group. If you are interested to join the group, do drop me an email at rejoice468@yahoo.com and I will be glad to provide you with the necessary details.

As to how to get there, the extract below from sp.pagenation.com will be of help:

Bottle Tree Village Food is located near Jalan Mempurong; near Simpang Kiri Park Connector; near Simpang Kiri Park Connector; near Sungei Simpang Kiri; 0.2 kilometre away from T3; Bottle Tree Village Food is geographically located at latitude (1.4589 degrees) 1° 27' 32" North of the Equator and longitude (103.8437 degrees) 103° 50' 37" East of the Prime Meridian on the Map of Singapore.

The locations related to Bottle Tree Village Food are represented by the nearest distances for a beam of light to travel and may not be nearest by road. For example, Bottle Tree Village Food is located 0.1 kilometre from Abandoned Boat Launch. Bottle Tree Village Food is located 0.1 kilometre from Sungei Simpang Fishing Spot. Bottle Tree Village Food is located 0.2 kilometre from Masjid Petempatan Melayu Sembawang. Bottle Tree Village Food is located 0.3 kilometre from Secluded Pinic Site. Bottle Tree Village Food is located 0.6 kilometre from Buckaroo.

Sembawang Mart Block 511 2.7km, Sembawang Shopping Centre 2.8km, Sun Plaza 3km, Northpoint 3.3km, 888 Plaza 5.9km, Vista Point 6.3km, Duty Free 6.7km, Causeway Point 6.9km, are places to shop (shopping mall, shop houses) located near Bottle Tree Village Food.
Yishun Dam 4.3km, Orchidville 6.6km, Singapore Zoological Gardens 8.4km, Night Safari 8.7km, Sungei Punggol 9.6km, Lido Beach 9.8km, Tajam, Pulau Ubin 10km, Kranji War Memorial 10.5km, are places of interest (attraction) located near Bottle Tree Village Food.
Buckaroo 0.6km, Yishun Industrial Park Food Centre 2.4km, Canberra Road Food Centre 2.7km, Woodlands Industrial Park Food Centre 5.4km, Prata Place 7.4km, Woodlands Food Centre 8.4km, Bamboo 9.1km, are eating places (food court, cafe, hawker food) located near Bottle Tree Village Food.
Chongfu Primary School 2.3km, Wellington Primary School 2.5km, Northland Secondary School 2.6km, ITE East Yishun 2.6km, Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School 3km, Peixin Primary School 3km, Sembawang Primary School 3km, Yishun Town Secondary School 3km, are places of learning (school, college, university) located near Bottle Tree Village Food.

Secluded Pinic Site 0.3km, Sembawang Park 0.9km, Yishun Neighbourhood Park 2.5km, Megah Ria Park 3.7km, Yishun Park 3.8km, Lower Seletar Park 5.6km, Along Old Nee Soon Road 6.8km, Springleaf Avenue Playground 6.9km, are parks, playgrounds, open fields or commons located near Bottle Tree Village Food.

Laughter The Best Medicine

"Is laughter the best medicine?” Scientists have found that laughter is a form of internal jogging that exercises the body and stimulates the release of beneficial brain neurotransmitters and hormones. Positive outlook and laughter is actually good for our health! It may not seem to have much benefit, but to someone who has just gone through a tough day, a good laugh can do wonders. It does raise your spirits.

It was found that adults don’t laugh as often as children. While adults laugh approximately 15 times a day, children on the other hand laugh some 400 times. It seems as we grow up, we lost the sense of humor and few hundred laughs. We need to learn to be positive, to smile and laugh again and I think it will have tremendous impact and effect on our well-being.


Laughter is a form of good stress, or stress in reverse. Laughter is one of the body’s safety valves, a counter balance to tension. When we release that tension, the elevated levels of the body's stress hormones drop back to normal, thereby allowing our immune systems to work more effectively. Cells which produce anti-bodies increase in number, T-cells which combat viruses are activated and ready for battle. Our natural killer cells increase in number and activity. All this occurs as a direct result of laughter!

Being unhappy or very sad can seriously damage your health. So don't worry, be happy!

Humor therapy is the term given to a therapeutic process which claims beneficial effects from the use of positive emotions associated with laughter.

1. Research has shown that laughing can help in:
2. Lowering blood pressure
3. Reducing stress hormones
4. Increasing muscle flexion
5. Boosting immune function
6. Producing a general sense of well-being.


A Joke To Cheer You

When Mozart passed away, he was buried in a churchyard. A couple of days later, a drunkard walked through the cemetery and heard some strange noise coming from the area where Mozart was buried. Terrified, the drunkard ran and got the priest to come and listen to it. The priest bent close to the grave and heard some faint, unrecognizable music coming from the grave.

Frightened, the priest ran and got the town magistrate. When the magistrate arrived, he bent his ear to the grave, listened for a moment, and said, “Oh Yes, that’s Mozart’s Nine Symphony, being played backward”.

He listened a while longer and said, “There’s the Eight Symphony, and it’s backwards too. Most puzzling.” So the magistrate kept listening; “There’s the Seventh, the Sixth…the Fifth..” Suddenly the realization of what was happening dawned on the magistrate, he stood up and announced to the crow that had gathered in the cemetery, “My fellow citizens, there’s nothing to worry about. Its just Mozart decomposing”